Sandy Hook truthers target ‘hero’

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Sandy Hook truthers, or conspiracy theorists, have targeted a man who sheltered six scared survivors of the Sandy Hook school shooting, accusing him of being a liar and a “crisis actor.”

On the morning of the shooting, Gene Rosen of Newtown, Conn., was feeding his cats when he discovered four children hiding out in his driveway.

The children told Rosen their teacher was dead. Rosen took the children in his home and kept them safe until they could be reunited with their parents.

Following the shooting, Rosen was interviewed by several media outlets that descended on the Connnecticut town.

Following the shooting, consipriacy theorists have posted videos online questioning Rosen’s account. Many have accused him of being a “crisis actor” and “in on it.”

Several online groups have posted Rosen’s personal information on message boards and other websites. Rosen said he is receiving threats via e-mail and phone.

“I don’t know what to do,” Rosen, a retired psychologist, told Salon in a follow-up interview on Tuesday. “There must be some way to morally shame these people, because there were 20 dead children lying an eighth of a mile from my window all night long. And I sat there with my wife, because they couldn’t take the bodies out that night so the medical examiner could come. And I thought of an expression, that this ‘adds insult to injury,’ but that’s a stupid expression, because this is not an injury, this is an abomination.”